Our Goal: One bag of trash at EagleFest

Here at Teatown, we’re always challenging ourselves to be better environmental stewards. That’s why we’ve set an important goal this year: collect just one bag of trash during the 7+ hour duration of our largest event of the year, EagleFest.

Will it be easy? No. Can we do it? Absolutely.

Why it’s important

Festivals are notorious for creating obscene amounts of trash. Attendees are shuffling from one table to another and from one show to the next with food in hand and family in tow. Happening upon a garbage bin is less of a practice in mindfulness and more of a rapid-fire ring toss between activities. Consequently, recyclable items end up in the wrong bins and most of what is recycled is too contaminated to be disposed of properly. The largest festivals, like Coachella, are producing upwards of 100 tons of trash per day, while smaller more localized events still struggle to sort food scraps from garbage and paper from plastic.

How we’re going to do it

1. We upgraded our waste stations. We’ve switched up our tactics from previous years and opted for brightly-colored bins that make it easier to sort your waste into the correct waste stream.
2. We’re partnering with the Town of Ossining’s new Food Scrap Recycling Program. Around 40% of garbage is made up of food scraps so we’re excited to send all compostable materials to a composting facility, thereby diverting a significant amount of waste that would otherwise be trash.
3. We’re working with our collaborating partners and food vendors to reduce unnecessary materials and substitute more sustainable items wherever possible.
4. We’ve enlisted help. Volunteers from Ossining High School will be helping attendees sort their waste right at the bins, ensuring recyclable items end up where they belong – out of the trash.

How you can help us

1. BYOB – Bring Your Own Beverage container/tumbler/coffee mug (but please, no alcohol). The fewer cups we use, the better. Even though they aren’t trash, compostable cups are still waste.
2. Pack It In, Pack It Out – Only use the trash and recycling bins for waste items generated at EagleFest. If you brought it with you, please bring it home with you.
3. Leave No Trace – Help us reduce overall waste by only taking items (food, promotional materials, etc.) that you need. Rather than taking a flyer, try taking a photo instead! (It’s much harder to lose that way, too!)
4. Leave It Better Than You Found It – See a piece of recycling or trash on the ground? Help us by bringing it to the nearest waste station.

Check back in after February 8 and see if we met our goal!